The College Fix

Court rules ban violates First Amendment rights, governor rebukes decision

A federal court blocked Texas A&M University System’s recent ban on drag shows Monday, ruling it violates First Amendment rights.

As a result, the Queer Empowerment Council is now allowed to host its annual “Draggieland” show on March 27, which had been prohibited under the ban, according to a news release from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

FIRE filed a lawsuit on behalf of the QEC, a student-run organization at Texas A&M, following the ban. The free speech advocacy group also filed a motion for an injunction to allow QEC to host its annual “Draggieland” show.

“[I]n suppressing speech because it ‘promotes gender ideology,’ the Board members explicitly embrace the viewpoint discrimination forbidden by the First Amendment, targeting speech due to its perceived ideology,” FIRE’s lawsuit states.

Judge Lee Rosenthal’s ruling notes QEC’s argument that the drag ban constitutes “quintessential” viewpoint discrimination, “which creates the presumption that the ban is unconstitutional regardless of the type of forum.”

The Texas A&M System Board of Regents, however, argued that Rudder Theatre is a “limited public forum,” not a “designated public forum,” granting the university more discretion to regulate speech in that space.

The federal court focused on determining “whether Draggieland is speech or expressive conduct protected under the First Amendment,” Rosenthal wrote.

She concluded that “both the performance and monologues that comprise Draggieland are intended to convey a culturally significant message about LGBTQ+ rights.”

“The court finds that Draggieland is protected as speech and expressive conduct,” she wrote.

Last month, the Texas A&M System Board of Regents unanimously approved the resolution prohibiting drag shows at its 11 universities, citing disrespect to women and “a hostile environment,” The College Fix previously reported.

“When do performances in which men dress as women cross the line from entertaining to demeaning?” Rosenthal wrote.

“The impossibility of objectively answering that question demonstrates why such standards are impermissible as the basis for a restriction on expressive conduct,” she wrote.

FIRE attorney Adam Steinbaugh called the ruling “a resounding victory for the First Amendment at public universities in Texas,” according to FIRE.

“The court reaffirmed that state university officials cannot block student expression they claim is offensive. State officials should stop trying to score political points at the expense of students’ First Amendment rights,” he said.

However, Texas Governor Greg Abbott disagreed with the ruling, writing in a post on X that “drag shows are not welcome at Texas universities.”

“Texas universities have every right to dictate what events are held on their campuses. Drag shows promote radical gender ideology … Our universities must educate our students—NOT indoctrinate them,” he wrote.

MORE: SCOTUS denies emergency request for campus drag show

IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Drag queen on metallic tinsel background; Stefano Oppo/Canva Pro

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